Round pegs. Round holes. Three games in and Steve Agnew finally opted for the crowd-pleasing 4-4-2.

In an era of populism the man who was handed the post-Aitor Karanka poisoned chalice did what so many in the crowd have insisted was the obvious solution: he set out the team to attack.

Boro started with two up front and two wide men and the midfield pair pushed forward. They were geared up to “go for it”.

To play an orthodox 4-4-2, that most traditionally ‘English’ of formations, and right from the off was a significant moment as it was fundamental break with Aitor Karanka’s tactical philosophy and three years of systems based on a lone frontman.

It all went horribly wrong. Boro scored - twice! - but were repeatedly sliced open and lost 4-2 in a “must win” match.

But is there anything that can be salvaged from the wreckage? What worked? What didn’t? And is it worth trying again?

Agnew looking for a viable attacking shape

The new man said from the off he knew he had to find a way to win score goals and win games. Since then he has tweaked his tactics in a bid to do just that, to turn out a team that could offer a threat.

He started with a lively looking 4-3-3 against Manchester United and for a spell they showed a lot of movement and dynamism, pushed higher up the pitch and asked questions before fizzling out.

There was a late cameo for 4-4-2 as Boro chased the game and it created some pressure but no cracks in the United defence.

At Swansea, Agnew reprised the 4-2-3-1 that had taken Karanka’s functional side to promotion and started this season with an optimistic flourish before stagnating.

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And Agnew also brought Dani Ayala back into the centre of defence alongside Ben Gibson to reform the rock solid partnership of the Championship clean sheet kings, and the left-back crisis had been solved by bringing a left-back in from the cold.

No one can say that the boss had thrown a curve ball, or tried to be too clever, or played people out of position.

So what went wrong?

Boro have spent three years with at least two central midfielders shielding the back four and with widemen instructed to track back to block opposition probes down the flanks.

At Hull those dense defensive layers of tactical barbed wire were removed leaving the defence exposed.

And it was far from a first choice back four. Ring rusty Dani Ayala has just returned from injury and has barely played in the league this term. James Husband was making his top flight debut and hadn’t featured in the league for Boro since February 2015. And Antonio Barragan has struggled in recent weeks.

It was a back four that had never started before - and it looked like it.

The midfield in front of them were pushing forward whenever possible so huge gaps opened up that Hull could exploit - and the Tigers' main strength is pace, both down the flanks and through the middle. They probably couldn’t believe their luck.

Hull celebrate (Image: PA)

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Time and again a quick ball into the space behind the midfield pair or flankers left a Hull man free to burst through and go one-on-one with a defender or collect and simply slide it to an overlapping team-mate to scythe into the box.

Boro’s defensive line collapsed. After so long watching a risk-averse team built on a rigid rearguard it was shocking to see a Boro team concede four. And it could have been more.

Were there any positives?

Well, Boro scored. Twice. That was a plus. It was the first time they had scored more than once in a league game since the 3-0 win over Swansea on December 17, also the last win.

The opener was the first away goal of 2017. And Boro may have had more. A Gestede header that could have made it 3-3 brought a brilliant save. So after months of shadow boxing they were suddenly actually landing punches.

Going forward Boro were far from fluid and you could see they lacked the instinctive movement and interplay that comes with familiarity - but they did push up en masse to the edge of the opposition box.

And they did mount spells of pressure. And while they didn’t carve out a flurry of clear cut chances they did create positive situations and force mistakes a more practised side may have profited from. So that was a plus too.

The front two proved a handful for the opposition - as they had against Manchester United - and showed signs of a fledgling partnership too, playing far closer together than at Swansea and looking for each others’ movement.

Adama Traore (Image: PA)

And Traore is starting to develop some game nous and find an end product. His low shot after tricking into the box may have been drifting wide but it still lead to the opening goal.

So there are plenty of component parts there to build on.

Should Agnew stick with 4-4-2?

Why not? The survival stats have swung ominously against Boro now but it is still possible to wriggle free - but they must win games and that means they must score. Grinding out draws isn’t enough.

Boro must find a shape that can create a dynamic within games that creates sustained pressure and carves out chances.

The evidence of recent games is that Boro’s best bet to do that has been with two up front and a more direct approach.

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That may be the best bet to force goals - but Boro need to sharpen up at the back and quickly get to grips with defending when the human shields have been removed. There can be no repeat of the Hull implosion.

With a first choice back line - Calum Chambers, George Friend and Fabio were missing - Boro would be better at the back.

And if they can polish some of the movement up front then 4-4-2 could give them teeth in the run-in.